Not just in Delhi, rapes happen elsewhere too: Shinde

New Delhi: Amidst strong protests over the rape and brutality meted out to a five-year-old girl here, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday tabled a statement in both the houses of Parliament related to the horrific case.

In a bid to assuage the raging protests, Shinde said rapes are taking place not just in Delhi but across India.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Shinde had said an inquiry has been ordered into the lapses on part of police to investigate the disappearance of the five-year-old girl and attempt to hush up the matter.

Shinde gave details of the incident in Gandhi Nagar area of East Delhi on April 15 and the investigations conducted so far.

He said the Station House Officer (SHO) and the Investigating Officer (IO) have been placed under suspension taking note of the lapses in the investigation.

"The Joint CP (Vigilance) has been asked to conduct an inquiry. The Jt CP (Vigilance) shall also enquire into the allegation that the local police paid some money to the father of the victim to hush up the case," Shinde said in the statement which was laid in the House.

The victim`s parents had alleged that some police personnel had offered them Rs 2,000 and told them to keep quiet over the issue.

Shinde said two accused have been arrested in connection with the case.

Medical examination of the first accused, arrested from Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on April 19, has been conducted for DNA, he said.

The accused is presently under judicial custody. Speaking against the backdrop of major uproar and street protests, Shinde told the House that the five-year-old girl was reported missing on April 15 and an FIR was registered at 10 pm.

"The police started searching and conducting raids in the East Delhi area," the Home Minister said.

In the early hours of April 17, 2013, the mother of the girl heard weeping sound of the child from the ground floor of the same house where her parents lived on the first floor, Shinde said.

The ground floor was found locked from outside and the police, when informed, broke open the door and recovered the child, he said.

The girl was rushed to Swami Dayanand Hospital, which is the nearest, and preliminary medico-legal case confirmed "sexual assault of brutal kind", Shinde said.

Her condition was reported to be stable after an operation conducted on April 18. She was later shifted to AIIMS on April 19 for better treatment and presently her condition is reported to be stable, he said.

In the meantime, on April 19, some protesters were holding demonstration at the Dayanand Hospital where the Minister concerned of Delhi government was visiting to enquire about the health of the child along with the local MP, Shinde said.

Some protesters tried to break through the police cordon around the hospital in order to enter the premises, he said.

An Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) was seen on camera slapping one of the lady protesters, the Home Minister said, adding the officer BS Ahlawat has been placed under suspension with immediate effect.